Considering NCL-

[DnA2010]

Hi All,

 

We've never cruised NCL but I am considering booking them, more specifically the new ship that's doing some west coast cruises- we mainly book GT/last minute, so would love some hints/tips on doing this with NCL- our party is 1-2 cabins, either my family (myself, hubby and 2 kids- 14 and 2) or potentially adding my mom (she and the 14 year old would share cabin)

When is the  best time to book for best rates, from my pricing out, it doesn't seem like adding the offers is generally the best deal?

Help please!

[myjillian]

If you have a good TA she will check to see if your booked price ever goes down.  When you book directly with NCL you can call in and check prices...just don't pay for everything until just before the due date because you usually can't change your price if it's paid in full.  In Jan most cruise lines reduce prices for a limited time..it's called WAVE season.  Have fun and good luck.

[dolita22]

We booked an NCL cruise 40 days on (this September for a late October sailing) and were able to still pick our room, though we obviously did not have a lot to choose from. We typically book much further out, but somewhat spontaneously changed plans to take the cruise since it fell over our anniversary. Compared to a cruise we had booked for April 2019, we saved about $300. Not a ton, but something is better than nothing.

With a newer ship (Joy?), prices will likely be higher, so perhaps look at booking in the days right after -- or even the week or two immediately after -- final payment. With guarantee rooms (assuming that's what GT means), since you can end up anywhere, the prices may start dropping then in order to start filling rooms and people start bidding to upgrade. For our Getaway cruise in October, I watched the prices for cruises leading up to it out of curiosity's sake, and it seems like most rooms were shown as sold out two weeks before the sailing.

 

 

For the offers, if you don't drink - or just have a couple drinks each cruise - and enjoy the MDRs and don't need WiFI or shore excursion credits, then you could look at the sail away rates, which don't include any offers guarantees you a room of that type (inside, balcony, etc.) or better.

 

Hope that helps! Others experiences may vary.

 

[DnA2010]

On 12/3/2018 at 2:07 PM, myjillian said:

If you have a good TA she will check to see if your booked price ever goes down.  When you book directly with NCL you can call in and check prices...just don't pay for everything until just before the due date because you usually can't change your price if it's paid in full.  In Jan most cruise lines reduce prices for a limited time..it's called WAVE season.  Have fun and good luck.

 

We've never actually used TA's- just book online myself....

I will take a look in January for reductions, thanks!

[DnA2010]

18 hours ago, dolita22 said:

We booked an NCL cruise 40 days on (this September for a late October sailing) and were able to still pick our room, though we obviously did not have a lot to choose from. We typically book much further out, but somewhat spontaneously changed plans to take the cruise since it fell over our anniversary. Compared to a cruise we had booked for April 2019, we saved about $300. Not a ton, but something is better than nothing.

With a newer ship (Joy?), prices will likely be higher, so perhaps look at booking in the days right after -- or even the week or two immediately after -- final payment. With guarantee rooms (assuming that's what GT means), since you can end up anywhere, the prices may start dropping then in order to start filling rooms and people start bidding to upgrade. For our Getaway cruise in October, I watched the prices for cruises leading up to it out of curiosity's sake, and it seems like most rooms were shown as sold out two weeks before the sailing.

 

 

For the offers, if you don't drink - or just have a couple drinks each cruise - and enjoy the MDRs and don't need WiFI or shore excursion credits, then you could look at the sail away rates, which don't include any offers guarantees you a room of that type (inside, balcony, etc.) or better.

 

Hope that helps! Others experiences may vary.

 

Thanks for your thoughts. I will take a look at some cruises and figure out when the final payment is and check that out, thanks!